


Handsome

by Batdad (MizGoat)



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Fives isn’t dead AU, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, mild body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 20:17:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20895515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizGoat/pseuds/Batdad
Summary: Echo comes home after his ordeal at the hands of the Techno Union.





	Handsome

**Author's Note:**

> Made to accompany [this](https://batdad.tumblr.com/post/187738250033/holy-shit-i-drew-something-i-dont-hate-have-some) bit of fan art I made.

Echo stared at the far wall of the troop transport and tried not to rub his hands over the unfamiliar planes of his face. It would only end with him poking himself with the metal probe that occupied the space where his right hand should be. He had gawked at himself in the mirror plenty of times since the rescue, and he still had no idea how Rex had managed to recognize him. He certainly didn’t recognize himself. Every line on his face was sunken and too pale. The contours of his silhouette had been rearranged by mechanical implants and prosthetics. A lifetime of knowing his own face from countless near identical others wiped away. He couldn’t even retreat into the familiar anonymity of armor because none of it fit over the cybernetic protrusions. They’d found some loose fitting civie clothes for him and Echo couldn’t decide if he wanted to tear them off or disappear under them. Kix had promised him better fitting prosthetics just as soon as they could be acquired, but who knew how long that would take.

Even his hearing was different, now that his left ear was mechanical. Though he was adjusting to that faster than any of the other changes. He could pick up so much more which was generally the opposite of what happened to men caught close to explosions. Whispered conversations across crowded rooms were now perfectly intelligible. Discretion was going to factor more into his life now, but politely pretending not to have heard something was always part of living in cramped quarters. 

Cramped quarters that he was soon to return to. Cramped quarters and the man he had been so happy to share them with. His half of the bunk that he had shared with Fives was almost certainly occupied by someone else now. Where would he sleep?

There was a dispatch that had been sent ahead, but Fives was almost certainly not privy to it’s contents. He wouldn’t know that Echo was on his way back from the dead. 

Would Fives recognize him?

It was the question that kept worming its way to the forefront of his consciousness. Would his lover even know who he was? Would he have moved on. Found someone new? Echo wouldn’t blame him for that. But to see his own distrust of this new face mirrored back at him from Fives? Or worse a blank unknowing stare? He wasn’t sure how well he’d survive that. 

A series of shakes and a clang made it clear that the shuttle had docked and there was no more time for hypothetical speculation. Nothing for it now but to test himself in the field. Could he handle being around people he knew without having a nervous breakdown?

He was slow to follow as Rex and the other troopers that had been traveling with them. The light of the hanger was too bright after the dim shuttle and the din of hundreds of voices talking over one another was nearly unbearable. Pride kept him from tucking his head under his arm to try and block it all out, but the temptation was strong. He needed something, anything to focus on, so he could try and ignore the rest. His eyes landed on Rex who dismissed the shiny he was talking to and waved him over. 

“Come on, I’ll show you to your new quarters.”

Echo wanted to say something about knowing the layout well enough, but the noise was making it hard to think, so he let Rex lead him away. It wasn’t until they were in the relative quiet of the crew quarters that he realized that Rex had brought him into one of the officer’s wings. 

“Here you are.” A door slid open with a hiss and Rex handed him the access key. 

“This is a lieutenant’s berth,” Echo said absentmindedly as he wandered in. 

“Don’t worry, I haven’t promoted you. But we’re never traveling with a full complement these days, so no one else is using it.” Rex leaned against the door frame. “Kix has informed me that getting the excess tech out and refitting you with more appropriate prosthetics is gonna involve more than one surgery, and you’ll need downtime in between. Figured you could get better R&R in a private room than the bunks.”

Rex was still talking but it was lost on Echo. Coming down the hallway with heavy, swift footsteps was Fives complaining to someone walking with him. 

“I don’t see what could be this urgent in the private quarters.” 

“You’ll forgive me for not questioning the captain’s orders. All I know is that he told me to bring you here.”

By now Rex could hear them too, and he turned to look down the hallway. 

“Ah, Fives.” Rex jerked his head in a come here gesture. 

And then he was there standing in the doorway. Echo’s chest seized tight and his skin felt flushed. Fives blinked owlishly at him from the doorway, his body rigid and still. Echo struggled for air. The sudden silence left his ears ringing. 

A roar shattered the moment, and Rex let out a pained grunt as Fives all but climbed over him to get past him and into the room. Echo had only the briefest chance to brace himself before Fives crashed into him with enough force to slam him into the far wall. The resultant clang of metal on metal as his spine made impact reverberated in the small space. Fives’s arms closed around him in a painfully tight embrace. Echo tried to meet it as best he could with his one good arm, and ran his fingers through Fives’s hair as he buried his face in the crook of Echo’s neck. 

Through the doorway Echo could see Rex pulling away the gawping shiny who had been Fives’s escort before the door closed leaving the two of them alone. 

Fives was sobbing, deep wrenching sobs that started in his gut and rippled outward. Echo realized he was rocking sympathetically and cooing a string of nonsense that he hoped was soothing. A few times Fives made sounds that were perhaps an attempt at speech that ended up dissolving back into tears. 

They stood that way for a long time with Echo rocking and petting Fives’s hair before slowly the sobs decreased in frequency and Fives loosened his grip enough for Echo to pull back and look at him. His face was red and swollen from crying and there was a fair amount of snot dripping from his nose. 

“Hey there, handsome,” Echo whispered and wiped at his face with a sleeve. Fives let out a little huff of air that was almost a laugh and tried to duck away. 

Echo kissed him. It was a short gentle kiss, over almost as it began, yet it left his heart pounding and lips tingling as if he were a young cadet again. 

“You still love me?” Five’s question caught Echo off guard. 

“Shouldn’t I be asking that?”

“What?” Fives shook his head as if that would clear the confusion. 

Echo rubbed his hand along the edge of the metal that obeyed the back of his neck. “It only gets worse under the clothes.”

Fives stared back uncomprehending, then cupped Echo’s face with both hands. “You’re alive.”

“So are you.”

“You’re alive.” Fives’s voice had a slightly desperate edge. 

“Let’s sit down.” Echo was suddenly very sure that the only thing keeping him from having wobbly knees was mechanical legs. Fives went to grab Echo’s right hand then startled back when his hand closed on the narrow metal of the probe. Echo flinched. 

“Shit. Shit. I didn’t even notice. Hells. I’m sorry. I…”

“It’s fine,” Echo cut him off. Echo pulled his shirt off. It was an awkward process with one hand, but he managed with surprising speed. He locked eyes with Fives as he let the shirt fall to the floor. He watched as Five’s eyes darted down to the cluster of metal and tubes that covered his chest then back up to his face. 

“Told you it was worse under the clothes.” The tiny room was horrifically silent. 

“Hey there, handsome,” Fives whispered. Then he kissed him. Not the chaste peck from earlier, this kiss was longer, harder, and betrayed a hunger they both still shared even if neither was fully ready to act on it yet. 

Then Echo began to cry. Tears pooled at the edges of his eyes before streaming down his cheeks, the tightness in his chest finally releasing. Fives pulled him close and rubbed his back. His fingers were delightfully warm as they rolled over what was left of his skin, and Echo arched his back into the touch. 

“I love you,” Fives whispered, his lips brushing against Echo’s remaining ear. 

“Love you too.” If Fives noticed the way Echo’s voice cracked, he didn’t say anything.


End file.
